


here is something you can believe in.

by Sagamohr



Series: i've got a bad feeling about this. [4]
Category: Monster Hunter (Video Games), Monster Hunter: World - Fandom
Genre: Bathing/Washing, F/M, Happy Ending, Mentions of night terrors, Mud Fight, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sappy Proposal, Semi-Healthy Communication, Sharing a Bath, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:54:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28353492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sagamohr/pseuds/Sagamohr
Summary: It's been over a month since Val and Luca have returned from the Waste, and things are beginning to settle for the couple once again. Val continues hunt, defend to thrive without crippling night terrors, and Luca makes plans to start the long process of recruiting members for the creation of a Sixth Fleet.But is everything as it seems?The finale to the series.
Relationships: Field Team Leader (Monster Hunter)/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s) & Original Male Character(s)
Series: i've got a bad feeling about this. [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600714
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends. It's been a while, hasn't it? I want to first apologize for not posting or updating anything on my main page in a long time. Secondly I want to thank everyone who has left comments, kudos and hits on any of my fics. You're the reason I'm returning with the final installment of my Monster Hunter series. 
> 
> If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to me on Discord (@ sagamohr#1468) or leave a comment in any of my fics. I read them all of the time (:

“Can’t believe you’ve both been back a whole month and he still hasn’t made time to move you into his room,” Wren told Valentyne that morning, shaking his faintly pink head. “You would think Luca would _want_ you to move in, but I guess not.”

Valentyne rolled her eyes. “Can you stop it for one minute, please?” She stabbed her fork into an unceremoniously large piece of fish. They always seemed to roll around back to this conversation, a seemingly innocent one from her cousin, who just wanted what was best for her. Maybe what was best for her wasn’t moving in with her boyfriend right now. Maybe what was best was living in separate rooms until the Commander gave them his blessing to marry.

Whenever that happened, hopefully before they were both old and grey like him.

Both she and Wren had just returned from a fishing expedition earlier that morning. The canteen cook team had been complaining of finding butchered spines and mouldy fins in the meat. So, Wren had suggested they go, as the wet season was beginning to roll in, and it was easy. There was no Anjanath to worry about, no Jagras, nothing beyond some herbivores to look out for when they got interested in whatever Val and Wren decided to haul up from the river. So they went.

The white-haired hunter couldn’t keep her thoughts on the task, and while they had returned virtually unharmed and with bundles of fresh clean fish, Val wished she had something else to come home to.

Wren had joked that Luca was acting like a man getting ready to propose, and the idea had simultaneously choked and elated Val. What if he wasn’t? What if all of this running around Luca was doing was strictly for his grandfather? What if it had nothing to do with her, with their future?

“Hello? Astera to Val?” Wren waved his hand in front of her face.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Thinkin’ about Luca, right?” Wren asked, returning part of his attention to his food, looking back at Val to catch the way her cheeks flushed. “You don’t have to tell me, but it’s only a little obvious.” He teased because as much as he loved giving his cousin a hard time, he loved behind her soundboard too.

Valentyne sighed, shook her head, and pushed her plate to the side, where Ransom hopped up to finish it off. “He’s … He hasn’t said more than a handful of words to me since we got back.” She confessed, pulling the end of her braid over her shoulder to play with it. Mud and fish guts were still gunked up in the ends, and a long soak in one of the baths below would be best. “We wake up and eat breakfast together, and then he’s… off, with the Commander for the rest of the day. Sometimes he sneaks into the Smithy. He said something about working on recruiting again.”

“A Sixth Fleet?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think the Commander is gungho on it,” Val said with a sigh, bringing her hand up to her face, resting her elbow on the table. “We don’t get to say goodnight to each other either.”

Wren snorted slightly. “A shame.”

Val huffed. “See, this is exactly why I don’t-”

“Valentyne!” It was Eden, her handler. “Val, can you come down here, please?”

Wren narrowed his eyes, tilting his head slightly. “Why is she yelling for you?”

Eden was naturally loud, but she had always made the effort to meet Valentyne halfway so she wouldn’t be shouting across the canteen. “I don’t know.” Val sighed, feeling down with the line of conversation, wondering briefly if Eden had anything to do with Luca being so distant. 

Since the Anjanath accident, Eden had been more distant than normal, seeking to spend her time with the Botanist and only suggesting to go out on big hunts when she had to. She didn’t go with Val and Wren on the fishing mission. Val hadn’t made it easy for Eden either, she had come to realize. Ransom abandoned the food he had been shovelling into his mouth, and followed dutifully, leaving Wren to deal with Val’s leftovers.

Once she reached the Handler, Val smiled at her. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah! I just wanted to run a couple of small jobs by you before-” Eden paused, flushed, and shook her head. “They’re tiny, so maybe they’re better off going to someone else.”

The white-haired hunter lifted an eyebrow at her. “Small jobs?” This was new, usually Eden only brought her Hunting jobs. The other small jobs came from the others around the compound, like the Botanist.

Eden nodded, folding her arms across her chest. This wasn’t at all like her normal self, but Val assumed that she was still dealing with her shortcomings of being a Handler that almost got her Hunter killed. For the most part, Val had accepted the Handler's apology, knowing that the reason that almost got her killed wasn’t Eden’s complete fault. It didn’t stop either of them from feeling like they carried the wrong share of the blame. “Small jobs like what, Eden?”

“Oh! Yeah, like… waterproofing the baths, because they’re in a real at-risk spot for flooding, and moving the bachelor’s hut up onto the platform or building it in a new space altogether. We thought about moving them into the Handler’s room but then where would we go? There isn’t any spare room…” Eden had gone off on one of her typical rants, mixing her inner monologue with whatever issue she was having, and Val could only wait for the Handler to catch her breath before she stepped in.

“So, have you brought this up with the Commander? With Luca?” Val suggested once she was sure Eden had calmed down.

“Yeah, the Commander said we were going to start building a new platform just west of the Canteen.”

The Hunter’s eyes widened slightly. “But if the wet season is coming in, that’s an entire hillside rife with potential for mudslides. It’ll wipe the platform out twice over.”

“Which is why, if you were listening, the Commander wants some Hunters to start collecting those big flat rocks by the river and start bringing those up, or to slosh mud up for the smithy to start making bricks.” Eden explained again with a small smirk on her face. 

She always liked having the last word.

Valentyne pinched the bridge of her nose. “And when did he want this to start?”

“Uh, like right now.”

Sapphire Star. Val let her nose go and nodded tiredly, resigning herself to an afternoon of Wren complaining. “Alright.” The Hunter rolled her shoulders, and peeled off her hunting gear slowly. “Round up a group of four hunters, we’re going to start with mudslinging before we start moving rocks.”

Eden perked up immediately, always happiest when she had tasks to do. “You got it!”

“Also, do your best to rope Luca into this. He’s always complaining that he doesn’t get his hands dirty enough.” Val told her with a smile. It was a weak attempt at a new olive branch, but it was an attempt.

“Gotcha!”

So, Val returned to the canteen and clapped her hand over her cousin’s shoulder. “You better get some old clothes on. Commander wants us to sling some mud back to the smithy for bricks.”

“ _What!_ ”

* * *

Valentyne was grateful that it was one of the rare warm days as she was elbows deep into the fresh mud. Hunters hauled buckets of water into the dry dirt to make the mud, and it was clean and didn’t cling to her fingers as badly. Her hair was tied up and back, and she had some mud smeared on her face from the odd mud ball thrown at her from Wren. She had expected far more complaining from her pink-haired cousin, but he seemed delighted in getting his hands in the mud, filling tray after tray of the gooey black substance.

Eden had found a different task to partake in, and while Val felt like the olive branch she had offered should have been enough to calm the tension between them, she would simply have to try harder next time.

That or Eden was truly as uppity as she had been labelled. Mud was definitely below her, which made sense considering she was often found hiding in trees and places away from the ground. Val tucked that fact into the back of her head as she continued to work on making more mud for the other Hunters around her to gather, casting her sight back to the hill that the Commander wanted to build on. They would have to reinforce the bricks with something more than just mud because even then with too much water, the bricks would all apart.

Ah, that would be an issue for the men of the smithy. Val’s job was just to collect and deliver the material she had been ordered to.

She looked over to her right, smirking when she caught sight of her boyfriend, Luca, carefully piling a brick-shaped pile of the gunk onto a tray before sending it away. Other than his hands, he was practically pristine, and Val knew she absolutely had to change that.

Besides, he had gotten his hands far dirtier when they camped out two weeks ago. He caught fish, skinned and descaled them, and more. Surely he could handle some mud under his nails. Picking up a very small handful, she gave a low whistle to catch his attention. Just as Luca lifted his gaze from the mess between his feet, he barely had any time to duck as Val launched the tiny mudball at his chest.

It splattered wide and drippy across his chest without issue, and Valentyne laughed, covering her mouth with the clean inner side of her elbow.

“Oh. You think you’re funny now?” Luca asked, as he reached down with hesitation and picked up a fist-sized chunk of mud. Most of his side was drying out, so the mud would hit harder and would be harder to get out of the clothes Val had changed into. “You wouldn’t want to try that again, would you Val?” He challenged, raising an eyebrow at her.

He clearly didn’t expect the wad of mud to hit him in the same spot a second time.

“Oh, that’s it,” Luca said and threw the mud at her, aiming more for her stomach than anywhere else. 

Val screamed, laughing as she nearly ducked it. Half of the mudball hit, and she bent down to pick up a bigger ball this time, and Luca had given up on trying to keep himself clean. Wren - having watched this happen - came up behind Val and smashed a harmless handful of mud into her hair, making her turn and whip the ball in her hand at his body. With some splattering up into his face, Wren cackled and turned to the other Hunters just watching. Cupping his hand around his mouth he shouted: “Mud fight!”

The chaos that erupted was both cathartic and childlike. Val didn’t know how long it had lasted, or who had waved the white flag, but it was fast paced and crazy. It wasn’t until they were all caked in the mud they were supposed to be collecting that Luca finally called it off, breathless and bright-eyed. “C’mon everyone. Let’s get these trays - whatever’s left -up to the smithy. Then every one of you- into the bath!” He motioned first for the ones that weren’t covered in the gunk to take the trays, before he returned his attention to his girlfriend. 

“You got me pretty good,” He told Val with a smile, reaching for her hand.

Val - who had missed him so much more than she had ever been able to put into words - took his hand, mud and all. “You taught me how to aim better. Do you regret it yet?”

Luca laughed, and drew her in close, hugging her. Val cared little for the way the mud squelched between them. More people walked past them, Wren included, and Val didn’t care at all. They used to keep their affection for one another on the downlow, sneaking around and kissing when they thought no one was watching. A lot of that had changed when they returned from their vacation. She was happiest in the arms of her boyfriend, of the man that had taken her under his wing and had trained her, had seen her at her absolute worst and at her absolute best. Who else would she want to be with than him?

It was Luca who pulled away first, giving her a small smile. “I can’t find a clean spot to kiss you.”

“Then you’ll just have to kiss me after we bathe,” Val told him confidently before she tugged on his hand and followed the group of Hunters back up into Astera. 

The Commander was thankfully busy elsewhere, somewhere in the compound. He didn’t want to see a gaggle of Hunters coming through covered nearly head to toe in mud anyway. Val continued to tug Luca through the blissfully quiet Tradeyard, taking the stairs down into the baths while the rest of their group made their way up into the Smithy.

“You planned that mud fight didn’t you,” Luca asked Val as he stripped down to his underwear, watching as Val did the same. Mud seeped through some of the clothes on her body, leading brown smudges and collected on the swell of her breasts, crook of her arms, under her armpits. 

She shook her head, grinning. “No, I didn’t. I honestly didn’t think you’d retaliate.”

“I’m the Field Leader, Valentyne. Of course, I would retaliate.”

They both climbed into one of the big round wooden tubs, the water achingly hot and stinking of citrus and woodsy scent. The water would be replaced at some point in the night, as did all the sitting water in Astera. Val moaned softly, the water lapping at her collarbones as she sat, Luca following and sitting carefully at her side, draping an arm behind her to let his fingertips brush against the back of her neck. “I needed this,” Luca said quietly, just loud enough over the sound of lapping water.

“I know.”

“You know?”

“Yeah. You’re running yourself ragged.” Before Val could put a stopper in it, the same complaints she had voiced to Wren slipped out. “You don’t talk to me during breakfast much, and when you do it’s about something your grandfather wants you to do.” Val told him, using her palm to scrub the mud off his chest. “Then you miss lunch if I’m not out, and you rarely come to dinner anymore. You haven’t said goodnight, or slept in my bed since we got back.”

Luca sighed as if he was caught. He looked down, watching Val’s fingers scrub at the mud left across the smooth plane of his chest before he looked back at her. “A lot is going on behind the scenes that I just can’t talk about yet.”

“That’s fine,” Val told him, not meeting his gaze. It wasn’t fine, and she’d pry the information out of him sooner than later. “It would just be nice to see you once in a while. I shouldn’t have to stage a mud fight just to get you in my arms again.”

Luca chuckled and leaned down to capture Val’s lips with his. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Valentyne whispered, pressing her hand flat over his heart. “Come back to me soon, okay?”

“You’re all I want to come back to.” Luca purred, kissing her again. 

Before long, the water grew too dirty and too chilly to sit in. So, together the Hunter and retired Hunter climbed out, wrapped towels around each other, and walked out of the baths before the rest of them started to walk in, complaining of aching muscles, of stiff knees, of mud in places they’d never clean. Hand in hand Val and Luca met at the junction of their rooms, kissed once more, and split to spend the rest of the night in their own rooms, not knowing that this would be one of the few times that they would have to do it.


	2. Chapter 2

“Valentyne,” Luca called, pushing the furs open to her bedroom. “Val, we got a job to do today.”

Normally, Luca let Wren wrangle his cousin in the morning. He had learned quickly that she didn’t like being disturbed until well into the afternoon on her days off, often forgoing meals in order to sleep. Whether she doubled up on the night draught or something else entirely, the Field Leader didn’t know. All he knew was that today was a very important day for the both of them, and she needed to be up as soon as possible.

Valentyne laid face down on her bed, half asleep. Her white hair was messy, having been thrown up into a bun the night before. Even asleep, with one arm tucked under the pillow and the other hanging off the bed, she looked every bit the beautiful, strong hunter he had fallen in love with. Luca moved slowly, making sure he didn’t knock any of her weapons that were propped against various places in her room. Since the last time he had been in here, the man really gave the space a look around. She continued to share it with her cousin Wren, but he was spending more and more time with Eden, Val’s handler.

Maybe it was time to diminish the role Eden had in Val’s career. It wasn’t like she couldn’t pick up a weapon and make the leap into the Hunter role much like 90% of the other Handlers already had. He ought to bring it up with Val… but for now this wasn’t about Eden, or about Wren.

Luca carefully moved to sit on the edge of her bed, placing his hand over the swell of her calf. “Val, babe?”

A couple of seconds passed. “Go away,” Val moaned into her pillow.

“Val, the Botanist wants us to go on a job today.”

“Can’t.” The Hunter whined, rolling over to get her leg out from under Luca’s hand. He was warm, and she was warm too, and being overheated made her grumpy. “Sleepin’.”

Luca laughed. He had only seen Val like this once before, and that was after her first dose of the new night draught she took to better handle her night terrors. It had been months since she had a horrible one, with a couple of small one jotting up once or twice a month. Luca was glad that she wasn’t experiencing them at such deliberating rates anymore. “Babe, c’mon. The sooner we can get this job done, the quicker we can be back to have dinner with everyone.” Luca had made dinnertime with Val and her cousin a priority again, since he had experienced how much Val missed him when he was so busy getting other things ready. 

When his girlfriend didn’t move, only shifted her hips in response, Luca sighed but there was no loss to the grin on his face. “If you don’t get up in the next ten seconds, I’m sending Wren in here.”

Like magic, Val sat up, grumbling.

“See you in ten minutes?” Luca said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. Instead she palmed his mouth and pushed his face away, still very much grumbling. The Field Leader laughed, loudly, and then walked out of his girlfriend’s room.

Everything was going to plan.

* * *

By the time Valentyne had gotten dressed and got kitted up, Luca was already waiting by the end of the Tradeyard, carrying more than what would be needed for whatever job the Botanist has slapped on them.

She would have word with the man when she got back. He knew how much she liked her days off. She approached her boyfriend and leaned against his side, dramatically sighing.

“Good morning.” Luca chided with a grin. He dropped an arm across her shoulders, holding onto her tightly.

Val sighed, but was awake enough not to sound so grumpy or upset. “Is it actually still morning?”

“Barely.” The Field Leader said, kissing the top of her head. “Fifteen more minutes will cross over into high noon.”

The white haired hunter sighed, rubbing her eyes. “Did you really have to get me up for this job?”

Luca nodded, turning where he stood to take both her hands in his and bring her in close. He leaned down, pressing his forehead against hers. “Yeah. I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone else.” It was selfish to take Val out on her day off, but he had plans, and the job was important, and he _missed_ her.

Val’s scowl broke into a soft smile, and she stole a quick kiss before pulling away, releasing a hatchet strapped to her hip to spin it around. “You owe me an entire dinner, Field Leader. Just you and me, the biggest, saltiest meat platter you can afford.” The Hunter pointed her hatchet at him, almost threateningly. Luca nodded, grinned, and motioned for the sentries to open the gates of Astera. “We’re not going to take any mounts?” Val asked, as Luca began to walk.

“Nope!”

They headed into the Ancient Forest, and while Val knew they were safe - the Moofah’s musk was held in a tiny vial at their hips, keeping most of the Jagras away - it didn’t stop the anxiety from coiling tightly in the bottom of her stomach, from knotting around her ribs. Luca walked just a few feet in front of her, hands-free as he knocked branches back and tore vines from the trees. “What are we going for, again?” Val called, trying not to let the anxiety she felt seep into her voice.

“Flowferns! Botanist wants twenty branches.”

“Twenty!” Val repeated, eyes widening. They had never brought back that many before, and what exactly was he stockpiling them for? “Why does he need so much? It’s not like we wander far enough into the waste to use any water ammo.”

“I think he wants to try and make something else. I don’t know, he didn’t really say.”

Strange. The Botanist usually went off on rants when given the chance. But, she _was_ talking with Luca, who was famous for giving the very lite sparknotes version of every conversation he had ever had. Val sighed, shook her head, and held her hatchet tighter. She had gotten the blade recently sharpened, and had gotten the bones bleached since most of the blood and poison had stained it dully orange. They shone brightly now, catching the sun rays through the heavy canopy of the Ancient Forest. At every snap of a twig Val felt like she was being thrusted into high alert, the knot of anxiety choking her whenever the bushes rustled aggressively (with a bird and not a Jagra) or a twig broke. 

When they finally got to an area they could rest in, Val sagged heavily against a tree trunk, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

“Please tell me you brought a waterskin with you. I think I left mine at home.” The Hunter said softly, patting her small travel pack down in case she did have a spare one. Luca often had more than enough materials on hand for a trip, regardless of the reason. Maybe this time he would have a waterskin. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the trunk of the tree, squinting up into the foliage. The Ancient Forest could be peaceful and calm, when the Jagras weren’t howling or on the hunt.

The forest was silent, almost too quiet, and that in itself was a worry. Valentyne sighed, closed her eyes and pushed off from the tree. “Luca?”

No answer.

Almost immediately, Val’s eyes opened. “Luca?”

Again, there was no answer. “Luca?” Val tried not to let the sudden panic in her voice rise beyond where it was now, but the skin across her chest was tight and her lungs felt heavy with the breath she couldn’t exhale. She looked around, hands going to the hatchets strapped to her back. Where was he? What had him? Why didn’t he hear her? The Hunter strained to hear anything beyond the soft chirps of the monsters that lurked beyond the foliage, of the way the wind rustled quietly around the branches.

Swallowing against the dryness in her mouth, Val took a couple of steps towards the last spot she had seen her boyfriend. Again, the Ancient Forest was silent and soft, keeping her secrets. Val had no idea if she should call for him once again or if she should just track him, the forest floor soft and easy to follow anything heavier than a Palico. The white haired hunter took a few careful steps around the tracks Luca had left, noticing with some surprise that he had walked at a quick clip. Did he leave on purpose? What had he seen? Was it-

“Val!” A shout came from the east, closer than she figured. Luca!

Turning, Val chased the sound, suddenly feeling far too brave for her own good. She crashed through branches, pushing them til they snapped, before she finally burst into a clearing.

Standing in a semicircle, was Wren and Eden, Ransom, the Commander, and the Botanist.

Then, standing in front of them in all of his glory, was Luca.

“Luca!” Val stammered, realizing with a blink that they were all there, looking at _her_. “Is… what are you all…?”

“Valentyne.” Luca started, taking a step towards her. He reached his hands out and she placed hers in his, letting his fingers tighten. He sighed, as if this was a weight that had been across his shoulders for too long. Anxiety pointedly stabbed her behind the ribs, and she bit her lip, squeezing his hands to keep going.

After a swallow, Luca looked at her and smiled. “I fell in love with you the second I saw you, covered in dirt and leaves in your hair.” He paused, running his thumbs across the top of her hands. “You limped in with Eden at your side and we knew - I knew - that we had been gifted someone wonderful for our growing tribe. I laid eyes on you and knew that there was no one else I wanted to train, no one else I wanted to share meals with, no one else I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”

Val’s chest tightened, and her already dry throat felt sticky with words. “Luca-”

“You’re strong, and selfless, and put the needs of others before yours. You’re kind and passionate about the things you like, and you always put your best foot forward, after a spill, a close brush with death, a night terror.” Luca continued, letting one of her hands go to gently cup her face. He could see her eyes growing misty, and he gently swiped his thumb along her cheek. “Valentyne I have seen you at your weakest, at your lowest. You get up after every dall, every time, and face it with determination I don’t see often from Hunters like you.”

He let her go and stepped back, falling gracefully to one knee. Valentyne gasped.

“Valentyne… you have fought every hardship thrown your way on your own. I want to be there for you in your hardest times, when you feel like you’re at your lowest.” Luca told her, his voice cracking with emotion. He pulled out a roughshod carved wooden box, about as big as his palm. He popped the top of and exposed what was inside of it. A ring: a golden thin band with the piece of the fallen star on top, sparkling underneath the speckled light from the foliage above. Val heard Eden gasp from behind Luca. She had every right to: this piece of jewelry was beautiful. “I want to be your standing rock for the rest of our lives, Val. I want to be the one you turn to in your darkest moments. Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” Val answered the second the question had been dropped, and the quartet behind them howled their happiness. Luca stood up and brought the white haired hunter into his arms, holding her tightly.

“Congratulations!” The Commander roared, coming to clap Luca on the back. His grandson let the Hunter go, turning to hug the bear of a man. He let him go, too, so the tall, silver bearded man could face his future granddaughter, and opened his arms to her. “Welcome to the family, Val.”

It was a tiny celebration in the clearing of the forest. They shared drinks and food, with the Botanist telling Val that he had gotten everything he needed a day prior. “Luca had come up with the plan.” He confessed, smiling. “As one of the highest ranking officials in Astera - not including the Commander - I was to be here to validate the proposal.” The pointy eared man smiled kindly at the Hunter and her fiance, reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder. “I am extremely proud of you, Valentyne.”

As the celebrations dwindled, so did the sun. “Time to pack it up, and announce it to the rest of Astera.” The Commander said, beating down the tiny fire they had made to cook and boil water with. “We have enough time for a proper celebration don’t we?”

“Why don’t we announce it in the morning, Grandfather?” Luca asked, smiling. “It can be our secret until then.”

The Commander looked between Val and Luca, before he smiled warmly. “Of course. Let’s head back anyways, before we get some unwanted visitors.”

The walk back to Astera was quick and painless, and Val held Luca’s hand the entire way. It wasn’t out of their ordinary to be like that, not recently anyways. Before they had gone in, Luca stopped her and produced the box once more. “There’s a chain in the bottom, under the bottom of it.” He showed her the fake bottom of the box, exposing a matching chain with a tiny dangle of the fallen star on it. “You can wear the ring around your neck on hunts, or leave it in the box.”

“It’s never coming off my finger.” Val said decidedly, making Luca laugh.

“You say that, but we both know you’ll take it off for hunts, especially when you get the ones camped in the Waste.”

Val made a face, and her fiance laughed, leaning down to kiss her sweetly. The Hunter wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer, breaking the kiss only to push her forehead against his. “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” Luca said, but his tone was more like a promise than a statement.

Kissing once more, the two pulled apart and linked hands, heading up the stairs into Astera as the gates closed slowly with a groan behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me. Thank you to everyone who read and commented. Thank you to AngelsAvengeMe for Wren, Val's lovely bouncy cousin (who I still have plans for!) Thank you for supporting my journey through Astera, and hopefully we'll see it again <3


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